Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit (Christian Democrats, KD)

EU RANK: 128 (Tier 3: Moderate Performance)

The Christian Democrats are a centre-right, Christian-democratic party combining social conservatism with a welfare-oriented emphasis on families and “values-based” politics. Led by Sari Essayah, KD won 4.2% and 5 seats in the 2023 parliamentary election and participates as a smaller partner in the current government coalition, with Essayah serving as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. Its electorate is values-driven and more dispersed, with stronger pockets among religious conservatives and socially traditional voters.

Disinformation and alternative media

KD operates a party paper (KD-lehti) and communicates through faith-based networks and standard digital channels. There is no indication of a broader alternative-media ecosystem or systematic disinformation infrastructure. Disinformation/alternative media risk is low.

Foreign influence and external alignments

KD’s external alignments are within European Christian-democratic networks (EPP family context) and mainstream Western politics. No hostile foreign influence is evidenced in the provided research. Foreign influence DMI risk is low.

Media capture, advertising and public service media

The party does not own major media assets beyond its party press tradition and relies on standard channels. Finland’s public service governance model limits capture avenues. Media capture, advertising and PSB-control DMI risk is low.

Corruption, litigation and institutional integrity

The most legally consequential KD-linked story in 2015–2025 is the long-running prosecution of MP Päivi Räsänen for alleged “incitement against a group,” which resulted in acquittals at two court levels and is set for Supreme Court consideration (final guidance pending in the litigation record). This is primarily a free-speech/hate-speech boundary case rather than corruption. Finland’s party finance oversight applies as for other parties. DMI corruption and institutional integrity risk is low (with elevated “legal exposure” visibility due to the Räsänen case).

Press freedom, harassment and treatment of media

No systematic harassment or punitive media strategy is evident; the party’s most salient legal conflict is about speech boundaries rather than attacks on journalism. Press freedom and harassment DMI risk is low.

Dimension	Risk level	Short justification
Disinformation & alternative media	Low	Party paper + standard digital; no broad fringe-media ecosystem indicated.
Foreign influence & external alignments	Low	Mainstream Christian-democratic alignments; no hostile-state ties evidenced.
Media capture & advertising / PSB control	Low	No major media assets; constrained PSB capture environment.
Corruption & institutional integrity risk	Low	High-profile litigation is speech-law boundary case, not corruption; NAOF oversight applies.
Press freedom & harassment of media	Low	No systematic intimidation pattern; legal salience mostly about speech regulation.